TTX eGrand Prix at the AMA Nationals

The first electric bike race is about to take place in a few short days at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. I was approached to be a rider for a bike running in the TTX eGP and I was excited at the opportunity of being a part of this historic event. Though excitement was mixed with nerves as well; the idea of riding an electric bike made by "some guy" as opposed to an Italian factory was a bit daunting.

The bike, a former 1995 Ninja 600, had just been replaced with new batteries that dropped one hundred pounds from the total weight. One hundred pounds! This brought it down to a measly 400 pounds, lighter than the original motorcycle. This was promising. There were some throttle issues, but they seemed fixable.

My other big concern was the tires. I'd never really ridden on a track with tires that had such large grooves in them. Even my supermotard tires were smoother. But I was assured by many accomplished racers that at the speeds I would be going, I'd have nothing to worry about. This in itself was worrying.

We showed up to test the bike at the track, the only way to determine whether it can be raced, and I had a few expectations, but not many. Unfortunately, my expectations were slashed beyond what I thought possible. I knew it would be different, but I was excited for the prospect of this new idea. However, the throttle problems were more than we thought and the poor little motor didn't seem able to haul the 400 pounds around at all. On my out lap I actually feared that I would start rolling backwards down the hill up to Turn 2.

It turns out that the throttle wasn't actually opening all the way, despite the full double grabs I was turning. There is also the possibility that the older (heavier) batteries were producing more power (current? watts?).

So we're making some changes and testing again in practice this weekend.

I'll update further with how things go, but come check out for yourself at the AMA Moto Jam this weekend, featuring not only the TTX eGrand Prix, but AMA National Road Racing, Supermoto, Motocross and Flat Track.

P.S. One unrelated perk that came from testing was that Moto Marin was demoing some bikes at the track and I got to ride the Aprilia RSV4 around Infineon. It was amazing! Go buy one. Better yet, buy me one.